Review

The Discover® Open Road(SM) Card for Students, issued by Discover, is designed for students who would like to earn cash rewards for their gas and auto maintenance expenses.

Through the reward program, students can earn a 5% rebate on gas and auto maintenance expenses. In addition, cardholders earn up to 1% for general purchases.

Those who spend up to $1,500 on general purchases will receive a .25% rebate, between $1,500 and $3,000 will receive a .5% rebate, and over $3,000 will receive a 1% rebate.* Rewards are redeemable in $20 increments.

Cardholders also earn a 0.25% rebate at select warehouse clubs and discount stores, and they can earn a double Cashback Bonus® when redeeming their rebates for gift certificates from participating Discover® Card Partners. There is no yearly limit to the amount of rebates that may be earned and rebates do not expire as long as the account is active within a 36-month period.

The card also provides standard benefits, including online account management, no liability for unauthorized transactions, and discounts on products and services at participating merchants and retailers.

The APR for this card is reasonable and there is no annual fee. There is also a 0% introductory APR that applies to purchases for six months.

Therefore, students who plan to spend up to $1,200 a year on gas and auto maintenance purchases (to earn the full 5% cash rebate), plan to use their Cashback Bonus® award at participating retailers (to earn double cash rebates), and plan to pay in full each month after the introductory rate expires (to avoid costly finance charges) will benefit most from what the Discover® Open Road(SM) Card for Students has to offer.

*It is important to note that like many cash reward cards, the highest rebate offered will not apply to all purchases made with the credit card. In this case, 1% will be applied only to those purchases made after the cardholder spends over $3,000 in one year, so the overall cash rebate earned will be less than 1%, depending on the amount spent. For instance, if the cardholder were to spend $4,000, only $1,000 of this amount would be applied towards the 1% rebate. However, this does not take into account any promotional offers or the full 5% Cashback Bonus® award.